


We Interrupt This Program

by Slow_and_Steady_Turtle



Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Little Nightmares II Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29855790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slow_and_Steady_Turtle/pseuds/Slow_and_Steady_Turtle
Summary: At the heart of the Pale City, the Signal Tower broadcasts its hypnotic transmission. Freed from his prison, the Thin Man steals away a little girl in a raincoat. Alone, Mono faces down the ghost that has stolen everything from him.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	We Interrupt This Program

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, everybody! I've had more than a few ideas swirling around in my head ever since I finished Little Nightmares 2, so I decided to knock some of the rust off and write a thing. Hope you all enjoy!

Mono felt like he was running through syrup. His limbs moved sluggishly, and it was a desperate struggle just to put one foot in front of the other. Static clung to him, sticking to his skin and making it tingle at the sensation. Mono's breath slowly escaped his mouth, caught in the awkward motion of hyperventilating in slow motion.

Behind him, the Thin Man's footsteps echoed off the metal floor with an eerie, clocklike rhythm. The air crackled as the apparition steadily made his way closer. The young boy pumped his legs as fast as they would let him, gritting his teeth at the screeching feedback that emanated from behind him. Ahead of him was an open door. Mono surged through it.

_Jump!_

Mono pushed off from the platform. For a moment, he was hanging above the void, tightly clutching his paper bag to keep the sudden updraft from ripping it off his head. He rolled as he landed on the next train car, letting out a hiss of pain as his knees smashed into the metal floor. But he could move freely again, momentarily freed from the Thin Man's distorting aura.

_No cause for celebration. Keep moving._

The door was closed ahead of him. Luckily, there was a handle conveniently placed right in front of him, its purpose clear as day. Mono sprinted up a fallen door that had landed on some discarded luggage and leaped, grasping the handle with both hands. His weight dragged it down, and the door slid open.

Slowly, like it was moving through syrup.

The air crackled again. Mono dropped to the floor as the Thin Man's footsteps clacked behind him. He couldn't wait for the door to open all the way. Mono squeezed through the opening, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to see the glitching, stuttering form of the suited man suddenly phase to a point just beside the impromptu ramp. His head almost scraped against the ceiling, but he seemed to pay the cramped space no mind; his gaze was fixed firmly on Mono.

Turning his attention back to the path in front of him, Mono caught sight of his salvation. Though the door wasn't open, a hole at the bottom of it revealed one more car. And the lever that connected it to the rest of the train.

_Almost there…_

Mono felt himself exit the Thin Man's aura once more. He furiously pounded down the aisle, tears flowing down his face as the static crashed against his head, and slid under the door. The rain pounded down around him. Mono paid it no heed. With the desperate strength of a boy fleeing from Death itself, Mono pulled the lever.

The effect was immediate.

At once, the car detached with a hard _click_. It wheeled itself away, gradually gaining more distance and building up more speed. The door swung open, and the Thin Man strode onto the platform Mono had just vacated.

For a single, panicked moment, Mono thought he would simply teleport across the gap, and then there'd be nowhere else to run.

But he didn't.

The Thin Man just watched as Mono escaped, his expression unreadable. He tilted his head ever so slightly, his eyes still shrouded underneath his hat. Mono thought he saw a quick, upward twitch of his lips, and the Thin Man vanished in a shriek of static.

Mono exhaled, sinking into a sitting position. His heart hammered against his ribcage, the adrenaline still coursing through his body.

The train car was getting faster. Mono quickly got to his feet as he tried to pull back the lever.

He wasn't fast enough.

The car screeched into a tunnel, crashing against the far wall. Mono was bounced off of the door, felt something crack, and plummeted into darkness.

XXX

_The TV flared to life in a flash of light and static. Mono clamped his hands over his head in a vain attempt to block out the noise. Despite his efforts, it still felt like the inside of his skull was doused in liquid fire. He could barely hear Six's gasps of pain from the doorway._

_Whimpering at the pain, Mono slowly made his way over to the TV. Though this had happened twice before already, the appliance's lure was no less commanding; resisting it only made the pain worse. Besides that, Mono felt… drawn to it, like he was being tugged along on a string. But… he_ wanted _to see what was at the end of it._

_He had to know what was behind the door…_

No, stop it!

 _Just a few more steps, and he was standing directly in front of the TV. Echoing the action he had performed twice over, Mono placed a hand against the screen. Static electricity_ _crackled_ _against his palm, but Mono ignored it._

_Must concentrate._

_The snowy image finally resolved itself into a twisted, warped hallway. Mono adjusted his fingertips ever so slightly, and the hallway shifted in response, straightening itself out._

_Mono pressed himself against the TV, and then he was no longer in the room. A quick feeling of displacement, and he found himself standing in the blue-tinted hallway once again. The door stood tantalizingly at the other end._

Run away! Don't go near it! Stay back!

_Mono broke into a dead sprint, his movements slowed as if he was running underwater. He was closer this time._

_Almost there…_

_He jumped up to grab the handle. At that moment, a small part of him expected it to be locked. It wasn't. The handle turned, Mono dropped to the ground, and the door swung open._

_Mauve light seeped out of the room. A man sat in the center, hands folded calmly in his lap. He was clad in a crisp, bluish-grey suit, his eyes hidden underneath a similarly colored hat. Unlike the other grotesque, monstrous forms of the adults Mono had encountered, the man seemed almost… normal. His unnatural height put an end to the misconception; it seemed like something had stretched him out, pulling him like taffy. He was unnaturally thin._

_The Thin Man rose from his chair. Only now did Mono realize that he had made a terrible mistake…_

_And then he was falling to the floor, outside the TV. Six groaned as she propped herself up next to him. The TV was still on. Mono didn't feel his friend's panicked attempts to rouse him. Even now, the TV still called to him. He staggered to his feet, ignoring Six as she pulled on his arm._

_There was a shape on the screen. The hallway was gone, replaced by a thin silhouette. It was getting larger. The image vanished._

_Two hands pressed against the inside of the screen. Mono instinctively reached a hand out to it, then grasped his head again as a wave of feedback washed over him. He was blasted back to the ground, seeing a flash of yellow disappearing into the hallway in his peripheral vision._

_Everything was a flash._

_The Thin Man crawled into the real world, and Mono's spell was finally broken. He scampered to his feet and ran out the door, the Thin Man's footsteps echoing right behind him._

_Ahead of him, Six dashed into the next room. Mono followed her, clamping down on a scream before it could escape him. The air cracked, the feedback emanating from the Thin Man screeching in Mono's ears._

_He slid under the bed at the other end of the room, caught a glimpse of Six hiding underneath a nearby table, and pressed his face against the floor. He felt the Thin Man enter the room. Mono squeezed his eyes shut and curled into himself._

_He couldn't think couldn't breathe couldn't see couldn't feel-_

_Six's scream tore through his mind._

_The pressure around Mono ceased, and he finally lifted his bagged head from the floor. Six's shadowy glitching remains sat on its knees in front of him, head bowed. Just another lost soul. One he could have saved. But he didn't. He had cowered in the dark while his only friend was taken right in front of him._

_Six was gone. The Thin Man was gone._

_Mono was alone._

_He crawled out from under the bed. Six's spirit faded away._

You are the cause for all of this.

You betrayed her out of cowardice.

You had every opportunity to walk away.

Why didn't you?

Why didn't you help her?

You were given another chance and you did everything exactly the same!

You **deserve** to be alone.

forever

Forever.

**FOREVER!**

_The thoughts exited his mind as quickly as they arrived, leaving only patches of emptiness to signify they had existed at all. Mono forced himself to focus. Swaying on his feet, he staggered out of the room. He was going to save his friend._

_No matter the cost._

XXX

The world returned from its place in the abyss. Impenetrable darkness gave way to the not-as-dark gloom brought on by a rainstorm. Mono's vision swam as he regained consciousness. He hissed as a searing pain flared up in his side. He turned his head at the sound of popping air. The TV remote had been thrown clear of his body, sparking and smoking where it had fallen. Well then, that would make things more difficult. He could only hope that he wouldn't run into any more hordes of Viewers anytime soon. And that his path forwards wouldn't be blocked by dormant televisions.

Mono slowly, torturously pulled himself to his feet from where he had fallen. His bag hadn't flown off his head when he had been ejected. Good, that was… good.

He swayed, blinking away the black dots that swam across his vision. He placed a hand over his side, a vain, instinctive gesture to block out the pain.

Step.

Step.

One foot… in front of the other.

Black spots continued to dance across his eyes. Ignore them. Keep walking.

The black spots were coalescing into a point directly ahead of him. Mono realized there was nothing actually wrong with his eyesight. Six's shadow stuttered into existence. She stared at him, face obscured by the hood of her raincoat.

Mono reached a hand out to her, desperate to make contact. She turned away and disappeared before he could reach her.

He kept going.

Out of the tunnel.

Her shadow materialized again, carefully balancing atop the rails. She looked back at him, then continued walking.

"Wait," Mono croaked.

But she didn't wait. She disappeared again, but not before pointing off to the side. Mono looked to where she was pointing to see her casually sitting on a nearby ledge, dangling her flickering legs. Mono climbed up on an abandoned suitcase, clenching his teeth as the pain in his side grew worse.

Mono knew she would disappear again when he reached her, and she did. She was leading him somewhere. Back to her own body? Mono pushed himself harder when he caught sight of her again, this time ascending a flight of stairs.

Up the staircase. Follow her. Gone again. There's a ladder. Climb it. Pain. Pain. Pain.

Fight through it.

Mono reached the top and pushed the manhole open with all his might.

The Pale City welcomed his emergence. Buildings loomed over him, warped and contorted. The rain cascaded down upon him. Mono's bag now felt the water's full wrath.

The Signal Tower lay before him. It jutted up from the ground, extending to a height that ensured it would never be mistaken for its smaller, lesser brethren. The tallest building in the world because it had made itself so. It would never allow itself to be upstaged by anything else. Six was trapped inside, he just knew it. Mono took another step forward.

And the Thin Man blinked into existence ahead of him.

Mono fell to his knees.

Why? Why now, why here?

_Because you blundered right in front of his home. Because you didn't have a plan. Because he never stopped chasing you._

He ejected the thoughts from his mind. They didn't matter. The reasons why the Thin Man was here didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing… except what he had come here to do.

Mono took off his paper bag mask. He set it down, letting a stream of water carry it away. It wasn't as if it had actually protected him from anything anyways. The world wanted him gone, dead, destroyed regardless of whether or not he showed his face. The world hated him. It yearned to see him fail. Its denizens impeded him at every opportunity. Mono was tired of hiding. He was going to show the world that it had been _wrong_ to think less of him, to put him and others like him through so much pain and hardship.

Footsteps clacked against the wet pavement.

Mono rose to his feet and leveled his gaze at the entity that had been making him dance to the beat of his tune for so long. He channeled all his anger, his desperation, his fear.

His hatred.

He channeled it all into the look he stared into the Thin Man's being.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the Thin Man's wrinkled, corpselike face ever so briefly. Mono thought he could see… disappointment in his eyes.

Mono didn't care what the Thin Man felt.

Footsteps clacked against the wet pavement, getting louder. Slow, measured, methodical. The air crackled. Static shrieked and feedback wailed as the Thin Man grew ever closer.

Mono felt something building up inside of him. His wounded ribs buzzed, but Mono would _not_ show weakness. Not now.

The Thin Man blurred, flickered, then he was standing just a few paces in front of him. A long, slender arm reached out.

Mono thrust out his palm, fingers splayed, perfectly mirroring him. Feedback screamed from the motion, and Mono could feel something pushing back against him. The Thin Man hesitated for the briefest of moments, apparently experiencing the same sensation.

Mono pushed forwards. Blue light peeled off the Thin Man's body as he tried to keep his footing, but Mono had caught him off guard. He pushed further, and the Thin Man was blasted backward, nearly toppling to the ground. The resulting shockwave swept down the street, rocking the buildings around them.

The Thin Man lurched upwards in a series of janky, stuttering motions. His face was expressionless, but Mono could tell he was shocked, possibly even afraid. The apparition stepped towards him once more, hand raised to snatch him up like he had done with the other runaways. Like he had done with Six.

Mono met him head-on. He could feel the man's essence quail as Mono's will crashed against him. He matched every one of the Thin Man's motions; when the specter altered his angle of attack, so too did Mono. Mono could feel him starting to buckle. He matched him again, and then the Thin Man was thrown back a second time. Another shockwave coursed through the city street. The Thin Man had to use his hands to keep himself from falling to the ground.

He staggered upwards. His movements were erratic spasms. Mono sensed a mixture of desperation and grim determination radiating from the Thin Man's next approach.

_Fine, then._

The Thin Man raised his right hand, Mono raised his left. Forward. Left. Right. Left.

Mono thrust his hand forward one last time, and the Thin Man was thrown off his feet. He skidded across the ground, his body stuttering, his form flickering. The buildings gyrated against each other, incredulous at what they were bearing witness to.

Mono felt his strength evaporate. He dropped to the ground, only able to sit and stare as the Thin Man struggled to his feet… then collapse to one knee. Black flecks were shedding off him in droves, but still the Thin Man persisted. Mono could tell that he was putting all his strength into just standing up.

Slowly, the Thin Man rose. Mono looked on in shock as the Thin Man's eyes met his own. They were full of panic. Panic, and hopelessness. The Thin Man reached out towards Mono one more time, but not to threaten. He was pleading. For what, Mono had no idea, and wouldn't for some time.

The Thin Man collapsed, his face smashing into the pavement. His body fell apart, disintegrating into a cloud of black particles which faded soon afterward, leaving nothing behind. No evidence that he had ever existed.

The strange feeling returned tenfold, as if it was waiting for the Thin Man's death. Mono's hands moved instinctively. He reached outwards, the lamp posts stuttering to life beside him. The buildings bent and buckled before finally straightening themselves out as Mono's will forced itself upon them.

The Signal Tower rushed up to meet him. Mono dropped his hands, sucking wheezing gasps of air into his lungs as he doubled over. He raised his head.

The entrance swung open, bathing Mono in mauve light. The Signal Tower was welcoming him. Without another thought, Mono rushed into the tower.

Behind him, the doors closed with chilling finality.


End file.
